_The Population_
Of the settlement may amount in round numbers to 45,000. Of these only
14,000, including women and children, have not been convicted of
felony; and two-thirds of the remainder, seven-eights being grown men,
are galley-slaves, still in chains!
_Influence of Convict Labour_.
Little more than forty years ago this country was an absolute waste.
By way of contrast, behold, in the parts first settled, the following
proofs of wealth: a thriving capital, and several interior towns, the
latter being larger and better constructed than the capitals of some
English settlements in America, a hundred years after their foundation;
excellent roads; productive turnpikes; crowded market-places; public
hotels, superior to the best in North America, even at this late hour;
warehouses, through which there is a constant flow of luxuries from all
parts of the world; public carriages, almost as well managed as those of
England; an astonishing number of private carriages, built in Long Acre;
several newspapers, and other periodical works; booksellers' shops, well
supplied from Europe; two banks of deposit and discount; many churches
and chapels; very good schools for rich and poor; scientific, literary,
and philanthropic societies; a botanical garden; a turf club; packs of
hounds; dinner parties, concerts and balls; fine furniture, plate, and
jewels; and though last, not least, many gradations in society, being
so many gradations in wealth.
Pages:
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49